Photo: Formula E
It's not a secret anymore. Live sports streaming is coming to Roku. Starting with the upcoming season, Roku will become the Unites States streaming home for Formula E and electric vehicle-powered auto racing series, offering live and on-demand replays of the competitions.
With about a month left in the current Formula E season, Roku, in its first live sports streaming rights sports deal, landed a multi-year contract with the electric car racing circuit Formula E to stream a batch of races exclusively in the United States.
Beginning with the next season (starting in January 2024), the company will stream 11 Formula E races for free through the Roku Channel. This will be Roku's first deal into the field, a rare occasion for Formula E fans in the U.S. to watch live sports free of charge.
The races are not exclusive to Roku. CBS also struck a deal with ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for season 10. Five races will be live on CBS and simulcast on Paramount+. Therefore, Roku users subscribed to Paramount+ can catch live action through the app.
There will be 17 races based on Formula E's season 10 calendar, 11 of which will be live on The Roku Channel (Roku's free ad-supported streaming TV service), offering users the chance to watch most of the season free of charge.
According to Formula E's chief media officer, Aarti Dabas, the series was looking for exposure, and it hopes that by partnering with Roku and CBS, the series' audience and reach will dramatically increase in the U.S.
Formula E is banking on tapping into the same level of success Formula One Series Drive to Survive had on Netflix in the US. Based on a Nielsen study done in 2022, more than 360,000 viewers who didn't watch F1 in the later portions of the 2021 season, watched the sport in 2022 after discovering Drive to Survive on the platform.
The partnership marks Roku's first venture into live sports at a time when the motorsports series was hoping to expand its reach in the United States after an almost sold-out Formula E race at Portland International Raceway last Saturday.
The event organizers didn't have an exact attendance figure, but the grandstands lining the PIR's front stretch were almost sold-out. Among those who attended were Olympic skiing star Lindsey Vonn and Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son).
The deal with Roku also includes Formula E content, including race previews, highlights, replays of all races, and, more importantly, Formula E's docu-follow series, Unplugged.
Roku debuted its Sports Experience hub last year in November as a way of introducing live sporting into its platform. The revised sports "experience" hub puts live and upcoming matches in one place, including zones specific to certain leagues and sports and rows for free content.
The hub launched with top-tier integrated services such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, DirectTV, Fox Sports, and Fubo TV, among others.
Beginning with the next season (starting in January 2024), the company will stream 11 Formula E races for free through the Roku Channel. This will be Roku's first deal into the field, a rare occasion for Formula E fans in the U.S. to watch live sports free of charge.
The races are not exclusive to Roku. CBS also struck a deal with ABB FIA Formula E World Championship for season 10. Five races will be live on CBS and simulcast on Paramount+. Therefore, Roku users subscribed to Paramount+ can catch live action through the app.
There will be 17 races based on Formula E's season 10 calendar, 11 of which will be live on The Roku Channel (Roku's free ad-supported streaming TV service), offering users the chance to watch most of the season free of charge.
According to Formula E's chief media officer, Aarti Dabas, the series was looking for exposure, and it hopes that by partnering with Roku and CBS, the series' audience and reach will dramatically increase in the U.S.
Formula E is banking on tapping into the same level of success Formula One Series Drive to Survive had on Netflix in the US. Based on a Nielsen study done in 2022, more than 360,000 viewers who didn't watch F1 in the later portions of the 2021 season, watched the sport in 2022 after discovering Drive to Survive on the platform.
The partnership marks Roku's first venture into live sports at a time when the motorsports series was hoping to expand its reach in the United States after an almost sold-out Formula E race at Portland International Raceway last Saturday.
The event organizers didn't have an exact attendance figure, but the grandstands lining the PIR's front stretch were almost sold-out. Among those who attended were Olympic skiing star Lindsey Vonn and Jaden Smith (Will Smith's son).
The deal with Roku also includes Formula E content, including race previews, highlights, replays of all races, and, more importantly, Formula E's docu-follow series, Unplugged.
Roku debuted its Sports Experience hub last year in November as a way of introducing live sporting into its platform. The revised sports "experience" hub puts live and upcoming matches in one place, including zones specific to certain leagues and sports and rows for free content.
The hub launched with top-tier integrated services such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, DirectTV, Fox Sports, and Fubo TV, among others.
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